This application claims the priority of Federal Republic of Germany Patent Document No. 10 2004 006 033.9-34, filed Feb. 6, 2004, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a method for detecting forest and surface fires, planning to combat them, and combating them.
Great public assets are destroyed worldwide every year by forest and surface fires. Landscapes are damaged for long periods of time, and secondary ecological damage is as a rule inestimable. In combating large fires persons are injured and firefighters are exposed to great harm. It is not rare for fire-fighting crews to become surrounded and killed by the advancing fires.
Combating large fires is carried out as a rule on the ground by fire-fighting vehicles and by aerial fire-fighting. The coordination of the ground forces as well as of aircraft must be conducted over large areas, and is as a rule difficult or even impossible for lack of planning and communication.
The evaluation of large fires, their geographical path and the recognition and evaluation of regions of especially critical growth is performed as a rule from the air, but only with little planning support and coordination with other sources of information, such as up-to-date weather data, local wind information and/or consideration of topographical circumstances.
DE 694 21 200 T2 discloses a method for the detection of fires in open land is disclosed, in which infrared (IR) cameras positioned on the land are employed. The pictures captured by these cameras are transmitted to a central station for digital processing. If necessary, an alarm signal can be generated on the basis of the photography.
EP 0 811 400 A1 discloses a method for fire detection using an infrared camera on board an observation aircraft. The images obtained are examined for potential centers of concern.
The invention is directed to a method by which fires can be reliably detected and effective countermeasures can quickly be initiated.
In the proposed method, fires are detected from the air by means of georeferenced infrared data and these surface data are transferred to a planning and deployment center. The overall situation is appraised with a display and planning computer, and fire-fighting intervention by air and on the ground is derived therefrom and communicated to the individual fire-fighting units.
In one advantageous embodiment, the fire-fighting and effectiveness of the recommended intervention is surveyed from the air, recorded and compared at the center with the computed action, and the plans are improved as necessary. With such improvement, the method constitutes a continuous circuit made up of an appraisal of the fire situation, the reckoning of countermeasures and the monitoring of the effectiveness of these measures.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.